• Country: Canada
  • Official Title: Assistant Professor
  • Department: Educational and Counselling Psychology, Learning Sciences and HPE Program
  • Institute: McGill University
  • E-Mail: nikki.lobczowski@mcgill.ca

Speech Title

Understanding and Supporting Health Professions Students’ Emotions in Collaborative Learning

The recent incorporation of collaborative learning experiences in health professions education (HPE) is a direct result of requirements for students to collaborate on interprofessional teams once established in their professional careers. Specifically, team members are better able to provide high-quality patient care when they can integrate complementary skills and share decision-making responsibilities. HPE students frequently struggle, though, to negotiate, manage conflicts, and construct knowledge with other group members. In fact, HPE students and educators often find team-based learning to be difficult to adopt and less enjoyable, effective, and efficient than lecture-based instruction. Frustration with the teaching method, combined with having to work alongside peers with various backgrounds, opinions, and working styles, can be difficult for most students. Importantly, these issues with teamwork can result in students leaving academic settings with negative perceptions of collaboration, which can follow them into their professional careers. Thus, developing effective collaboration skills that lead to positive collaborative environments is vital for students in HPE.

This presentation will focus on three main areas related to emotions in collaborative learning:

1)         Understanding how emotions emerge and impact collaborative learning processes

2)         Specific considerations for HPE 3)         Strategies for educators to support learners and enhance collaborative learning outcomes